1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to coupling of a carbon dioxide gas cylinder in a refrigerator equipped with an apparatus for producing carbonated water.
2. Description of the Related Art
A refrigerator is a home appliance including a storage chamber to store food, and a cold air supplier to supply cold air to the storage chamber in order to keep food fresh. To satisfy consumer demand, such a refrigerator may be provided with an icemaker to make ice, and a dispenser to allow the user to take water or ice out of the refrigerator from outside of the refrigerator without opening a door.
The refrigerator may also be provided with a carbonated water production apparatus for producing carbonated water. The carbonated water production apparatus includes a carbon dioxide gas cylinder storing high-pressure carbon dioxide gas, and a carbonated water tank to produce carbonated water through mixing of carbon dioxide gas with water.
Carbonated water produced in the carbonated water tank may be connected to an external dispensation space via a dispenser in order to allow the user to retrieve carbonated water from outside of the refrigerator without opening the door.
However, conventionally, the above-mentioned carbon dioxide gas cylinder and carbonated water tank are provided within the storage chamber of the refrigerator. For this reason, a long tube must be employed to connect the carbonated tank and dispenser. As a result, there may be a possibility that the taste of carbonated water may be degraded due to a variation in the concentration of carbonated water during movement of carbonated water to the dispenser along the tube.
Furthermore, there may be inconvenience in replacement of the carbon dioxide gas cylinder. For example, when it is desired to replace the carbon dioxide gas cylinder, the positions of food articles stored in the storage chamber may be varied.
For production of carbonated water, clean water and a carbon dioxide gas cylinder are provided. In addition, a procedure of coupling the carbon dioxide gas cylinder to a regulator is required. In this case, however, carbon dioxide gas may leak during the coupling procedure because the interior of the carbon dioxide gas cylinder is under high pressure. In addition, the user may drop the carbon dioxide gas cylinder during the coupling procedure. In this case, an accident may occur.